This article is about the district. For the town, see Chiredzi

Chiredzi

Chiredzi is a small town in Masvingo province in south-east Zimbabwe. Together with its sister town of Triangle, it is the major center of sugar production in the country.-Background:...

Chiredzi District is found in south-east Zimbabwe in Masvingo Province. The district is the major center of sugar production in the country. Hippo Valley Hospital, found in the district, is one of a numbers of center for HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 treatment in the province.

The district is famous for hosting Hippo Valley Estate

Hippo Valley Estate

Hippo Valley Estate is a sugar estate found near the town of Chiredzi in Chiredzi District of southeastern Zimbabwe,on the Runde River near the border with Mozambique.- Background :...

 and the nearby Mkwasine Estate both of which specialize in sugar cane and citrus fruit production.

Geography

A large chunk of the district is found in region V, although there are some parts that lie in region IV. In the Zimbabwean sense, areas in region five a characterized by aridity and uncertain rainfall patterns. Many parts of the district was unfit for agriculture, hence in 1972 they well left out to form Gonarezhou national park. In terms of surface area, Chiredzi is one of the largest districts in the country with over 95% of its area taken up by Gonarenzou and other conservancies like Malilangwe.
With the arid climate, most people grow sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

, one of the crops which is drought tolerant and requires minimal rains to grow to maturity. The red soils found in the district are also suitable for sugarcane, and prior to the land invasions of 2000, the district was a center for sugar production for the whole country.

Population

The district is sparsely populated. The Shanganes for a majority, with everybody in the district speaking Shangane, a dialect that is related to both Zulu

Zulu language

Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...

 and Ndebele

Northern Ndebele language

The Northern Ndebele language, isiNdebele, or Ndebele is an African language belonging to the Nguni group of Bantu languages, and spoken by the Ndebele or Matabele people of Zimbabwe. It is commonly known as Sindebele....

.

General elections 2008

Like Gutu, Chiredzi district has been divided into four sectors for the general elections of 2008. Candidates from both the MDC-T and the MDC-M, and from ZANU-PF and independents will compete for the four constituency seats available and the winners will go on to represent the district in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

's new House of Assembly

House of Assembly

House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....

.

For the Chiredzi East east, Mafamu Dennis (PAFA), Sithole Abraham (Zanu-PF), Chingombe Samson (MDC Mtambara), Chiromo Walter (MDC Tsvangirai) are registered to contest the seat, while Tafamba Olivia (PAFA), Ndava Ronald (Zanu-PF), and Mutambu John (MDC Tsvangirai) will contest Chiredzi north. Baloyi Alois (Zanu-PF), Zanamwe Nehemiah (MDC), Chirove Joseph (MDC Tsvangirai) are vying for Chiredzi south while Musareva Ernest (PAFA), Samson Aliginia (Zanu-PF), Mungwadzi Godfrey (Independent), Mashiri Robson (MDC Mutambara), and nickrd) will fight it out for Cheridzi west.